10 Little Moments
by Shadeehue
Summary: Series of oneshots and drabbles for the 10 for Nejiten challenge. Expect anything...expect everything...
1. Chapter 1

This is for I.Heart.Hatake.Kakashi's little 10 for nejiten challenge. I have a feeling I may have taken the first prompt a little too literally hehe. This AU-ish... Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I am not trying to pass off Naruto as my own work**

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_"There comes a time, when every lonely little boy must learn to dance"_

**Learning to Dance**

Neji wasn't particularly worldly, it was understandable seeing that he was only six, but he knew enough that THIS was going to get him bashed if word got out in the playground. He glared sulkily at the polished wooden floor as his uncle spoke to the teacher. His cousin Hinata was happily chewing on her fingernails; she had been dreaming of this her whole life. The entire five years of it.

"Hyuuga-sama, I'm afraid your elder daughter is not wearing appropriate attire for ballet," said the dance teacher.

Neji stiffened immediately and scowled at the woman ferociously.

Hiashi cleared his throat awkwardly, "That's my nephew."

The woman did a double take and gaped at the little boy. "Oh I am so sorry, I didn't realise, I thought… because of his hair…"

"I have a meeting I'm late for, I must get going," he interrupted her coolly, before leaving the children alone with her.

Neji found himself partnered with a girl with two brown buns on top of her head. She didn't look particularly pleased to be here either. Her name was Tenten and she was glaring at him, arms crossed. "I'd rather be playing soccer," she groaned rolling her eyes. "And don't touch me unless you have to, I don't want boy germs," she added as an after thought, fixing at him with a look of distaste.

Neji snorted, "I don't want _your_ germs either dumbhead."

"I'm not a dumbhead!"

"Are to."

"Am not!"

"Are TO!"

"Am NOT!"

The children continued bickering in this fashion until the teacher made them sit in separate corners for the rest of the class before it escalated into a physical fight.

It was the beginning of a beautiful partnership indeed.

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**A/N: ** I probably could have expanded this a little bit but I am so time-poor at the moment. Am not liking real life at the moment at all.

Well review and let me know what you think pretty please!


	2. Chapter 2

This is quite different to my usual style I think. Like a lot more depressing and I started using a bit of first person... kinda. But I had been wanting to try my hand at writing something more angsty and tragic for a while now just to see if I could actually do it. Lol thanks to the 3 or 4 nice people who reviewed, you all are awesome I do appreciate the encouragement.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!**

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**A whisper, a ghost, a memory**

_Hope is a waking dream_

She woke.

Her dark brown eyes blinked slowly as she waited for her vision to focus.

_Where am I?_ The faded cream of the ceiling looked familiar.

_The hospital… how did I get here?_

She turned her head to the side, it took a lot more effort than it should have. Lee was stationed in the chair next to her bed, still and sound asleep for once.

_Where's Neji?_ She wondered before drifting back into unconsciousness.

Thoughts and memories swirled inside of her. She struggled to make head or tail of it. She could remember the ring of metal on metal and the sharp metallic smell of blood clearly. It was so strong she could practically taste the blood on her tongue. She remembered a sharp pain going though her side and panicked white eyes hovering above her.

_What happened to me?_

Everything had gone dark. She had never felt so cold before in her life. Then all of a sudden, a light glow began to beckon to her until a blue light that somehow reminded her of Neji's chakra surrounded her and took her back. The next thing she knew was that she was recovering in hospital.

_I'm supposed to be dead_, she realised.

Her eyes snapped open.

She remembered what happened now.

Tenten hesitantly raised her hand towards the raised scar of that fatal wound. It wasn't a dream after all. This was wrong, she shouldn't be here. It felt like the temperature in the room had suddenly dropped. Were her senses going crazy? She felt different… her chakra felt different.

_What did you do, Neji?_

She had never seen him so…desperate before. There had been a real terror in his eyes when he cradled her head in his lap before her world slowly faded to black. But he had refused to let her go, whispering her name and things she never thought she would hear him say.

_Neji you idiot, you should have let me go._

Tears began to slowly trickle down her cheeks. She felt cold and numb. He had observed Grandma Chiyo's technique too well.

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**A/N:** I hope this wasn't too subtle but I figured I needed to start delving into character death and tragedy a bit more here and there...

Don't forget to review!


	3. Chapter 3

This is my little oneshot for Prompt 4. Crackish, and slightly ooc. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters

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**A study into the behaviour and habits of a Hyuuga male.**

"If you wait too long for the perfect moment, the perfect moment will pass you by"

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_The Hyuuga male is a rare species of shinobi of which little study into their behaviour has been conducted. They are characterised from other species of shinobi by their long luxurious mane which they use to attract females, white eyes and battle style. _

The buzz in the classroom increased when Neji walked into the Ninja Academy for the first time.

"Hey look at his eyes, he's a Hyuuga," whispered a blonde girl excitedly to her friend.

"You don't see them around too often," a red haired girl sighed.

Tenten studied the boy who had just entered the room doubtfully. She didn't think there was anything that great about a boy who looked like a girl from the back because of his long hair.

* * *

_Hyuuga males are solitary creatures and mate for life._

Tenten had not been particularly fussed with the Genin team she had been placed in. Gai sensei seemed capable enough as a ninja and she was sure there was plenty she could learn from him and she had the top rookie on her team. She would be able to regularly test her strength against him and hopefully, progress quickly in her skills. Lee could only use taijutsu but he was nice so she didn't mind as long as he could contribute equally to the team. However, as days of training went on, she slowly realised that both she and Neji were the only sane members on her team.

One day Neji propositioned her.

"Tenten, will you be my training partner? I think our fighting styles will suit each other and I don't think I can stop myself from killing those idiots if I train with them every day."

She could only agree. There was no viable option otherwise.

* * *

_Hyuuga males often attract potential female mates by battling other males in a display of strength and dominance. Other behaviours have included preening._

After the disastrous first chuunin exam they entered, Team Gai had worked harder than ever before and were well on their way to having flawless teamwork. However, there was a little battle for dominance between the two male members of the team and Tenten had often found herself rolling her eyes on the sideline as Neji systematically beat Lee up time and time again before wading into the foray herself and pulling them apart.

During the Chuunin finals, Neji toyed with his opponent for a few minutes before victory. Tenten rolled her eyes, he was such a show-off sometimes, he had already figured out how to beat the other genin from Suna. Some of the female genin from other villages had been sighing over his looks and abilities, but mostly his looks. Tenten had been tempted to turn them into pincushions but decided that it was likely she would not be promoted if she did that.

When Neji finally defeated his opponent, he glanced up at her and smirked as if asking her what she thought about his performance. She rolled her eyes again in response and his smirk faltered slightly. He smoothed his hair down self-consciously and left the battle arena.

As all members of Team Gai passed the Chuunin exam, Gai sensei had treated them to a victory dinner and presented each of them with a brand new green spandex suit. Tenten had tried not to look too horrified and Neji's expression had been stony. In fact it remained like that for the rest of the meal and Tenten wondered why he was sulking when he should have been celebrating.

Maybe it was because Neji had only just discovered that his opponent had managed to cut off a few chunks of his hair during the fight.

* * *

_Hyuuga males are tremendously territorial when it comes to their female mate, being extremely aggressive towards intruding males. _

"No Lee, you can't train with Tenten today," snapped Neji peevishly.

"But Neji, I need to be able to train myself against her youthful weapon attacks as well!" Lee wailed.

"You're fast enough to dodge them Lee," growled Neji.

"But Neji-"

"No she's training with me today and that's the end of the matter," he replied curtly.

"You are so unyouthful!" Lee's round eyes began to fill up with tears.

Tenten arrived at her team's training ground and could hear Neji and Lee having an argument but was unable to make out what it was about. She couldn't believe that they had already started arguing this early in the morning. They argued over the smallest things as well and she always had to break it up. She rolled her eyes when they finally came into her line of vision. Lee was weeping and Neji was sulking.

"What's happening guys?" she asked cautiously, not wanting to have to take sides if they asked.

"Neji won't let me train with you!" Lee howled piteously.

Tenten blinked. Ok either Neji just wanted to aggravate Lee, was way more insecure and possessive than she realised or had some other twisted reason for denying Lee his request. "Neji, why isn't Lee allowed to train with me?" she asked him slowly.

The Hyuuga prodigy's jaw clenched and he stared at the ground sullenly.

"Do you have a problem with sharing or something?" she added dryly.

"No," he replied defensively. "I-" his eyes shifted quickly to her face then back to the ground. He opened his mouth to say something but decided against it and the moment passed. "I just like training with you," he finally said embarrassedly.

Tenten nearly tripped over her own feet in surprise. "Look Neji, we train together almost everyday, I think it's good for both of us to train with other people once in a while to improve our skill and techniques." He still looked rather miserable. "How about I train with Lee today and I'll train with you for the rest of the week," she offered.

Neji nodded, his eyes looked distantly into the forest. He looked like he wanted to tell her something but Tenten figured that it would be better not to press him now.

He sure had been acting rather odd lately.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** E, I'm so so sorry that I took forever to write you something, anything, for your birthday which was like 6 months ago because I think I am now officially the worst updater in the world. I have had this sitting on my old comp for a while (then it died and it took a while for me to retrieve the data of the hard drive) but it was hard for me to think up of the perfect ending until now. This is for you, hope it gives you an enjoyable break from your studies for the bar exam.

This is also doubling as my early nejiten valentine's day post.

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_**Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies**_

Hinata patted Tenten's back soothingly as she listened to her friend complain about her cousin's weird and horrible behaviour. It felt like déjà vu. Only yesterday evening she had had to pat Neji's back soothingly while he groaned about how he had chickened out once more. Being the go between for the couple was starting to become a little frustrating especially when they had been dating for years, both loved each other very much but both were too scared to ask a simple four-word question: "Will you marry me?"

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_Two days earlier_

Tenten adored her boyfriend but she knew he didn't have a romantic bone in his body as she helped him carry up food for a picnic up the steepest hill he could find. A romantic boyfriend would have had prepared the picnic beforehand and decorated it with ridiculous amounts of rose petals and scented candles. When they finally got to the top the sun was starting to set so she paused to enjoy the view as Neji busied himself with laying out the blanket and the food. The sky was looking quite red, she wondered if it would rain tomorrow because she really needed to do some laundry since she was running out of clothes to wear. "Hey Neji," she asked as she plonked herself down on the picnic blanket beside him, still admiring the sunset, "Do you think it'll rain tomorrow?"

"Do I look like a weather forecast?" he replied sarcastically.

She punched his arm lightly, "Is that how you treat your precious girlfriend?"

Neji rubbed his arm and gave her a reproachful look. "Is this how you treat your precious boyfriend?"

Tenten laughed and leant against him. This was nice, just sitting with Neji and enjoying a beautiful sunset together without a care in the world. She wouldn't mind doing this with Neji for the rest of her life, just enjoying each other's company. Tenten sighed, she wondered if he would ever get it into his head to ask her to marry him.

"Hey Tenten," Neji turned towards her. He seemed slightly on edge about something, she wondered what he was worrying about.

"Yeah?"

"Close your eyes and hold out your hands, I've got a surprise for you."

Tenten grinned and did as he asked, hoping that maybe he had gotten Hinata to bake her amazing fudge again. He knew she'd do almost anything for the fudge. A little voice at the back of her head wondered if maybe he was finally going to pop the question…

*****

Neji knelt in front of her and took out the ring from his pocket. He looked at her expectant expression, she was so trusting and happy and his hands were shaking like a leaf. He took a deep breath and could feel the panic rising up in him like a wave. His hands were getting clammy and he couldn't get the words out. Neji knew he wasn't good at giving whole flowery speeches and romantic gestures but he needed to get the proposal right. No, he wanted to get it right for her sake since Tenten had been so patient with putting up with him for years. He owed it to her and he wanted it to be perfect for her. This was all wrong. They were both in normal casual clothes, it wasn't exactly screaming romantic scenario.

Shoving the ring back into his pocket, he frantically grabbed at anything he could deposit into her waiting hands.

*****

Tenten felt Neji finally place something in her hand after what had seemed like forever and it moved. She opened her eyes and saw a big black beetle in her palm. She shrieked and flung it away from her as hard as she could. "What was that for? That's an awful trick to play!" she yelled at him.

Neji began to laugh hysterically. Tenten got to her feet and glared at him, "What is wrong with you? I'd expect someone like Shino or Naruto to pull a stunt like, not you!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I won't do that again," he tried to placate her once he had calmed down somewhat. "But you should have seen the look on your face."

Tenten flung her hands up in the air, "You're unbelievable!" She proceeded to storm off then her stomach growled. Tenten spun around and grabbed the picnic food before stomping home, leaving a rather dismayed Neji behind her.

*****

"Stupid, stupid, stupid…" he groaned as he repeatedly hit his head against his pillow.

"A bug? In her hand?" Hinata asked disbelievingly. "Couldn't you have just given her the fudge? Or something that wouldn't gross her out so much like a flower?"

"I panicked and just grabbed the closest thing to me," Neji replied, his voice muffled by the pillow.

Hinata sighed and wondered how could such a smart person be so incredibly dumb?

* * *

_The next day_

"Tenten," Neji stuck out a peace offering i.e. a bunch of flowers, "May I please take you out for dinner to make up for my atrocious behaviour at the picnic?"

Tenten stared at her rather repentant looking boyfriend, wondering why he had insisted on coming to her apartment at the crack of dawn when he knew how much she treasured her sleep-ins. She sighed, and accepted the bouquet as graciously she could. "Yeah you may, and you'd better make it a nice restaurant."

Neji cracked a sheepish smile, "I've already booked that new restaurant you wanted to try out."

She laughed, "Arrogant pig," she said affectionately.

*****

The atmosphere was perfect, the food was delicious and both he and Tenten were having a great time. She looked gorgeous in a simple black dress and seemed to glow in the soft candlelight. He wondered if now would be the right time to pop the question.

"Tenten?" she looked up from her meal and her eyes widened to see him on one knee in front of her. Was he finally going to pop the question?

Neji swallowed hard and his stomach churned hard. "Will you… ," he paused and licked his lips nervously, "hold my napkin while I fix my shoe laces?"

*****

"I couldn't do it," he groaned into his pillow as Hinata patted him as soothingly as she could on his back. "I chickened out again even though everything was going perfectly!"

She sighed and made a mental note to herself that when Neji and Tenten finally got their act together, all the doors would have to be barred, locked and under guard during the wedding.

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**A/N2:** Wow, updating spree for me. I AM working on WNT don't worry!


	5. Chapter 5

Hm, I seem to be procrastinating on updating WNT by updating everything else instead by finishing all my half-finised fics lol. Enjoy and feel free to leave a review!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in it. I do not own much full-stop.

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**Denial**

"_Woman is a miracle of divine contradictions_"

It was their first mission with Sai. Neither of them knew what to expect, they had heard stories from Naruto and Sakura but those two were the type to exaggerate. Gai had taken Lee away for some youthful training exercise into the mountains involving boulders and squirrels and there was no one else available, so they had had to form a new three-man cell. Well not three-_man_ exactly since Tenten wasn't a man… she was most definitely _not_ a man…

Tenten was leading at the front as they leapt through the trees and Neji was at the back as usual, in case there were any surprise attacks from behind. But Neji wasn't appreciating the way Sai's eyes seemed to be focused on Tenten's perfect ass. He continued telling himself it was merely his imagination - that Sai was just looking at Tenten's general form simply because she was leading at the front. Just because _he_ always enjoyed the very fine view of her that he got on Team Gai missions didn't mean that every other male would too. Right? Neji rubbed his temples in irritation. Wrong, every other male would be just as fixated, especially if she continued to wear those tight pants that she had gotten into the habit of wearing lately.

They finally stopped to eat and rest until dawn. The forest was filled with chirping crickets and a few fireflies buzzed around the clearing they selected. Neji scanned the area around him with his Byakugen, no enemy ninja were around. Tenten gave him a questioning look and he nodded tersely. She grinned and began the task of making a small fire. Sai, meanwhile, had been watching their entire unspoken exchange with interest. Neji was getting quite sick of Sai already, that boy just kept intensely observing every human interaction he came across until it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand. He felt like he was under a microscope whenever Sai was around.

"So how did you know that she was asking if she could light a fire?" Sai asked in that monotone of his.

Neji struggled not to show his annoyance with the younger boy as he took out food rations for the three of them, from his bag. "We've been team mates for so long I can usually guess what it is she wants," he replied as curtly as he could to discourage the strange artist nin from asking him anymore questions.

He thought he heard Tenten mutter something about him not having a clue but he ignored it. He probably misheard, she was probably referring to Sai.

"How long must people be team mates before they can usually know what the other is thinking?" asked Sai.

Neji stifled a sigh. "A long time," he replied as vaguely as he could. He proceeded to sit down beside Tenten and hand her her water bottle.

Tenten smirked, "Well Neji is a little special, _he_ thinks he can read minds with his Byakugen." She took a gulp from her water bottle.

"I never said I could read minds," he corrected. "I am just at an advantage at interpreting other people's body language."

"So how can you tell if a woman would be open to your advances?" asked Sai.

Tenten spat her water out over the fire, putting it out in the process and started coughing. Neji glared at the other ninja suspiciously and thumped his team mate on her back.

"Did I ask something wrong?"

Tenten's coughing fit finally subsided. "No, I just wasn't expecting that. You should probably ask Neji though. He's the expert. Girls are constantly throwing themselves at him." She smirked at Neji who glowered back at her. He knew that she knew how much he hated the attention yet she kept teasing him about it mercilessly whenever the opportunity arose. But then there were the moments when she would fall into a foul-mood because of all the attention he received. He couldn't understand her sometimes.

Sai looked confused, "I don't understand how anyone could physically throw themsel-"

"It's a figure of speech, Sai," she laughed.

Sai turned to Neji with what looked like a quizzical expression but it was hard to tell with Sai. "Why would girls find you attractive? Your long hair makes you look like a girl from behind."

Tenten made another choking sound but this time she was not choking on water. Neji's eye twitched as he wondered if it would be possible to complete their mission with only two members... or by himself. He glared at Tenten who was smothering her laughter then he glared at Sai who was the cause of all his current woes.

"Maybe you should ask a girl that question then," he replied flatly.

"Sai, just take a look at his face, it's quite aesthetically pleasing," Tenten giggled, she was really enjoying this. She pinched one of his cheeks for emphasis and Neji growled at her dangerously. "And there is a good body under all those big robes… it's part of the reason why he doesn't wear those close fitting shinobi uniforms because he'll get even more harassed otherwise."

The dark eyed boy nodded solemnly, "Yes his face is quite symmetrical. So do you find him attractive Tenten?"

She laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head, something she would do if she was unsure of what the right course of action to take was. Neji nearly leant forward to see her expression and hear her answer better but that would have been too obvious that he cared about her reply so he stayed exactly as he was, and waited with anticipation for her answer. "Well… yeah… Neji is an attractive guy," she replied very carefully. Tenten avoided meeting his eyes and her expression was cryptic. She had an uncanny ability to become unreadable at what seemed to be the most critical moments, thought Neji irritably. Like Shikamaru often said, women were troublesome… and frustrating creatures.

Sai was continuing to interrogate her. "Do you think I am attractive?"

"Umm…" Tenten turned towards him and desperately tried to signal with her eyes for him to save her. "Yeah I suppose?" Neji's eyes narrowed, he didn't like her answer at all.

"Sai, stop asking such questions, you're making her uncomfortable," Neji growled.

Sai looked at the both of them and tilted his head to one side, "Is something going on between you two?"

Neji wanted to die and sink into the ground. How did a completely socially inept person manage to ask hit on the most sensitive topics and issues that he so carefully tried to hide from himself and everyone else? Tenten was turning red beside him; her earlier amusement had faded away as well. "I decline to answer anymore questions Sai," he said as firmly as he could and stood up. "I'm going to secure the perimeter."

To his complete dismay, the artist nin followed him as he started setting up traps. Neji decided that the best course of action would be to ignore the boy. However, Sai refused to be ignored. Sai simply leant against a tree and observed him as he deftly secured the near invisible wires around a tree branch. "Tenten is quite attractive," the former-Root member stated simply.

Neji gave a non-committal grunt, he didn't like where this was going.

"She has a better body than Ino and Sakura. Do you think she would be open to having sex with me?"

Neji suddenly yanked the wires too tightly and it sliced off the tree branch he was supposed to tie it to. He turned around slowly to fix the artist nin with a cold, steely glare. "No," he growled. It was taking him all of his self-restraint not to strangle the other ninja with wire currently in his hands. Unfortunately, if he did that, it would probably cause an explosion and give their position away to any enemy nin who might be around the vicinity.

"Is that because you like her too, you're being an overprotective team mate or because you genuinely think that she would not be attracted to me in any way at all?" Sai cocked his head to the side slightly.

"Tenten can take care of herself. I don't think she is attracted to you that's all," he snapped in reply.

"Oh, ok, I'll go ask her myself," said Sai giving him one of his fake smiles before disappearing into the shadows.

Neji placed his other hand against a tree branch and glared after the other nin. There was a cracking noise and he realised that he had just destroyed another tree branch.

* * *

By the time Neji had finally managed to calm himself down sufficiently to face his team mates without killing Sai, Tenten had got the fire roaring once more and had her arms akimbo with a ferocious scowl on her face upon seeing him return. "Neji may I have a word with you?" she said between clenched teeth.

His pale eyes flickered to where Sai was sitting, away from Tenten with a bright red hand imprint on his cheek. Looked like his advances weren't welcome after all. Without waiting for Neji to respond, Tenten yanked him by his arm and dragged him into the forest.

"Don't EVER leave me alone with that pervert again! Do you know what he asked me?" she hissed.

Neji gulped, "He asked you to have dinner with him?" She was the only woman who could make his knees buckle in fear, which was part of the reason of his attraction to her. Perhaps he had a thing for strong dominant women with a passion for sharp pointy things?

Tenten stared at him incredulously before smacking the side of his head. "No you idiot he asked me if he could have sex with me! I can't believe the nerve of that guy…" she trailed off and suddenly glared at Neji suspiciously. "Why would you think he asked me to dinner?" Her eyes narrowed dangerously, "Did you put him up to this?"

Neji shook his head hard emphatically, "No, why would I do something like that? I told him not to ask you out."

Her grip on his robes relaxed momentarily then tightened again, "Why would you tell him that?"

He stiffened as he tried to come up with an answer that was plausible, didn't make Tenten cross or involved an actual confession. Women were such confusing complex creatures, he knew he would have to tread carefully here. "I…didn't want him offending you like what he just did?"

Tenten's dark brown eyes hardened. "You're hiding something from me," she growled, jabbing his chest with her finger, hard.

Neji grabbed her wrist and pushed it firmly away so she would stop trying to stab him with her finger. It was so unfair, how could she be so excellent at reading him when he had so much trouble reading her, especially when she didn't even have the Byakugen and he did? "Don't be silly," he snapped at her, finally collecting himself together.

She took a step closer to him until their noses were almost touching, although she did have to look up to do that. "You're an awfully bad liar Hyuuga Neji," she said in a low, silken voice that made him want to grab her and kiss her senseless. But Hyuuga Neji had a lot of self-restraint, or so he told himself despite the fact that he was kissing her quite passionately against a tree. She responded very eagerly and Neji thought to himself that maybe having Sai as a team-mate did have its advantages after all.

* * *

**A/N**: I had so much trouble with the ending I just gave up on it and tried to keep it short and sweet.


	6. Chapter 6

The end-product of my procrastination. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any Naruto characters nor any valuable intellectual property or tangible property for that matter.

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**Part 1 of 2: The Pros and Cons of being in Love with Your Best Friend**

"_The difference between friendship and love is how much you can hurt each other."_

It amused him how eager his friends were to rush out of the school gates but once outside, they took their time going home and often took detours. Tenten had eagerly rushed into the newsagents to see if the new issues of Bleach and Fairy Tail had arrived. Lee was close behind her, leaving Neji to park her bicycle and his bicycle properly before following them in. Lee didn't have a bike as he preferred to walk or run instead.

Lee headed straight for the energy drinks in the fridge. It was probably part of the reason why he was always so hyper, Neji thought sourly. Neji spotted Tenten, who had a huge grin on her face as she waved the new issue of Bleach at him. That grin had become rather sheepish as she glanced up at him through her lashes. "Hey Neji, can I borrow money from you?"

"No," he replied flatly. He brushed past her so he could see what other mangas were out.

"Please, please, please, I promise I'll pay you back! I'll even pay you back with interest," she whined tugging at his elbow.

"Oh look, the new Fairy Tail is here too," he teased, shoving the plastic covered manga under her nose.

She groaned with frustration, "Please lend me money! I'm not going to get my allowance until next week."

He shook his head firmly, "You owe me so much money it's not funny, I already paid for your lunch today."

Tenten pouted, she did owe Neji two weeks worth of her allowance already. Lee popped up beside them with his energy drink in his hand. "Lee, can I borrow money?"

"Sure Tenten, how much do you need?" he started searching through his pockets.

She gave Lee a brilliant smile. "See how much nicer Lee is than you," Tenten said emphatically to Neji, who rolled his eyes in reply.

Lee continued to search in his pockets and then he looked up, "I'm afraid I don't have any money left to lend you after getting my drink."

Neji laughed as her face fell. She smacked him in the arm with the manga in retaliation. "Look, how about I buy the Bleach manga for myself but I let you read it first," he offered as he took the manga off her.

Her face lit up, "Really?! You're the best!" she squealed as she gave him a quick hug. Neji thought he felt butterflies in his stomach.

Summer was approaching. Neji cast his eyes up to the cloudless blue sky then focused on the cracked footpath before him as he wheeled his bike after his friends as they dawdled home. Lee had drunk his energy drink all at once already and was messing around with his soccer ball. Lee passed his soccer ball to Tenten who started bouncing it on her knees while trying to wheel her bike next to her with one hand. She then passed the ball back to Lee. Sometimes he wondered where those two got all their excess energy from.

Not concentrating on the ground before him as he was absorbed in practising a trick with the ball, Lee tripped on a crack and the ball rolled onto the road. Tenten dropped her bike and started after the ball but not before Neji grabbed her roughly by the shoulder and pulled her back onto the kerb. A car swung around the corner and sped past them.

"Idiot," he hissed angrily. His heart was pounding in his chest as he thought about how close Tenten had been to getting hit by that car.

"Tenten, are you alright?" exclaimed Lee worriedly. He had seen the near miss as well.

Her eyes were wide, "Yeah… thanks to Neji…"

Neji realised his grip on her shoulder and she rubbed it absently as she stared at the corner where the car had come out of the middle of nowhere. "Geez, you should have some road sense by now," he growled but his expression was one of concern. He bent down to pick up her fallen bike but ended up dropping it, as well as his own bike, as she flung herself into his arms and buried her face into his chest. She was trembling slightly still from the shock of the near-accident. Neji awkwardly patted her on the back, "Hey, it's alright, you're still alive."

"Thank you." Her voice was muffled. Then she finally released him and picked up her bike.

Lee checked both sides of the road for oncoming traffic before retrieving his ball.

The trio walked on in silence to the intersection where they split ways to their separate homes. Neji watched her out of the corner of his eye carefully. By then Tenten seemed to have recovered and was back to her usual self, humming slightly and kicking stray pebbles in her path. "See you guys at school tomorrow!" she yelled as she climbed onto her bike and began pedalling the rest of the way home. They only started cycling from this point once they parted ways with Lee.

"Bye! Take care!" Lee yelled back in reply as he waved at them enthusiastically.

Neji raised an arm without even looking back as he started cycling as well.

* * *

"What are we going to do during the holidays?" Tenten whispered to the boys sitting on either side of her during their free study period. Neji was concentrating hard on whatever complicated maths problem he was doing and Lee had his head down on the desk, drooling onto his notebook.

Neji simply shot her a glare that plainly said to her to get back to study before turning back to his homework. Tenten sighed and stated jabbing Lee's shoulder until he woke up. "What are we going to do during the holidays?" she repeated her question for his benefit.

"Oh we could have a Gai movie marathon!" Lee replied excitedly. Lee absolutely adored the kung fu star Maito Gai and even wore his hair like his idol and occasionally wore the green jumpsuit as well.

"We already did that last holidays," Neji pointed out grumpily.

A mutual love for Maito Gai movies was one of the few things that Tenten, Neji and Lee had in common. Well, they all had differing levels of love for the kung fu star. In Tenten and Neji's case it was more a case of liking rather than loving Gai. Lee's level of adoration of the man however, was on a completely different scale. On a completely different order of magnitude actually… They also all liked sports. Other than those two factors, Tenten knew they would not even have gravitated towards each other at school if it weren't for the fact that when they first started high school, they were all teased about their hairstyles.

The bell finally rang and it was time for lunch. The trio wandered outside heading towards the tree they liked to sit under, still arguing over what they could do during the holidays. "All these ideas require money!" exclaimed Tenten.

"Well we could get summer jobs?" suggested Lee.

"Where at?" Neji sighed. He dumped his school bag on the ground before choosing a clear spot of grass to sit on. Tenten and Lee joined him and pulled out their lunch from their bags.

A familiar looking boy slouched past, looking half asleep, with his chubby friend in tow, heading towards the vending machine. Neji's eyes followed them speculatively, he remembered seeing them working at McDonalds on the occasions where Lee and Tenten had dragged him there. He refused to eat the food there because it looked disgusting so he had ended up observing the employees while his friends were deciding what to eat. "McDonalds?" he suggested sarcastically, he wasn't exactly keen on getting a job in fast food.

"Hey that's a great idea!" exclaimed Lee excitedly.

Tenten's eyes brightened considerably as she turned to Neji with a grin, "It's perfect, we'll almost certainly get a job there if we apply even though we have no experience because we're cheap to pay."

His eyes narrowed, "No, I refuse to work there."

Tenten scowled at him and crossed her arms, "Hey, you suggested it and just so you know, when we all go to theme parks, concerts and movies together, Lee and I are most certainly not going to pay for your tickets."

"Maybe I don't want to waste my money on going out," he replied sullenly.

"Neji, it won't be as fun without you!" exclaimed Lee.

Tenten fixed Neji with a glare and he met it unwaveringly. If it was to be a battle of wills he refused to lose to her. He almost didn't notice the group of girls approaching him. He finally looked up when their shadows fell in front of him.

"H-hi Neji," stammered his cousin looking down at her feet.

He sighed, wishing she would just be more confident in herself. "Yes Hinata, what can I do for you?" They didn't often see each other around school as they were in different grades and their groups of friends frequented different areas of the school. Hinata's liked to hang out on the rooftop basketball courts whilst his preferred the small garden courtyard. Hinata didn't often seek him out either nor he, she. Her friends must want some guy's contact details again. They used to try to hound him for Sasuke's number since they were on a lot of sporting teams together and Ino and Sakura had crushes on him.

"I f-forgot my l-lunch m-money t-today, c-could you lend m-me some p-please?" she half whispered, looking embarrassed.

"We didn't have money to lend her either," piped up Sakura apologetically before nudging Ino sharply when Sasuke strolled past with Naruto waving his arms excitedly beside him talking about something, probably ramen or football.

Neji sighed and searched his wallet and pockets for money without much luck. He barely noticed Lee staring at his cousin's pink haired friend with rounder than usual eyes and his mouth hanging open until Tenten elbowed the boy sharply. "I've only got two dollars," he muttered giving Hinata the coins. It was all he had left after lending Tenten money to buy lunch yesterday and buying the new Bleach manga.

"That's sad," Tenten observed dryly. "All the more reason you should try to get a job at Maccas with us."

He frowned at her, "You owe me money from yesterday."

"It was only three dollars, all I got was a lousy sandwich!"

"What about the manga?"

"You said you were buying it for yourself!"

"Well pay up the three dollars then," he snapped holding his palm out expectantly.

"I can't pay you back till I get my allowance," she muttered.

"You'd better, you spend it all as soon as you get it."

"N-neji, it's o-okay. T-two dollars is e-enough," Hinata interjected hurriedly, not wanting to be the cause of a falling out between Neji and one of his friends.

Both Ino and Sakura tried not to laugh as they dragged Hinata away to buy food. It was amusing to watch Tenten push his buttons.

Lee sighed happily as he continued to stare after the girls, "She is the most beautiful creature I've ever set eyes on in my whole entire life," he announced to his friends.

Tenten and Neji exchanged looks, Lee in love was a new development and they didn't know if it was a good thing or not. "Which one? There were three of them," Tenten pointed out helpfully.

"The one with the pink hair and amazing green eyes," breathed Lee dreamily.

"Sakura Haruno?" Neji raised an eyebrow disbelievingly. She wasn't ugly but she had an alien look with that colouring and big forehead. Frankly he could think of better looking girls.

"Sakura Haruno," Lee repeated happily. "I will make her my girlfriend by the end of the summer or else I will not be a worthy opponent of you Neji."

Neji tried not to choke on the water he was drinking from his water bottle. "It's fine Lee, you can have her, I'm not interested in her at all."

"But I shall be the first to get a girlfriend," said Lee standing up with a determined fire burning in his eyes before running off in the direction the three girls had been walking in.

Tenten turned towards her remaining friend and tilted her head to one side, "Well?"

"Well what?" growled Neji, feeling rather irritated by recent turn of events, Lee had an annoying habit of turning everything into a competition.

"Do you think he'll win Sakura over?"

He shrugged, "Maybe, but in any case once Lee gets a girlfriend we'll hardly see him because he'll be a good attentive boyfriend and spend all his time with her."

Tenten sighed then said slowly, "Do you think we shouldn't encourage him then?"

"No, we shouldn't try to stop him from being happy just so that we can continue the way we are now. Lee won't ever stop being our friend but people grow up and grow apart, it's just part of life," he replied. He glanced over at Tenten who was looking very contemplative.

"You're right, as usual," she said teasingly before her expression suddenly became serious. "I guess I just don't want my life to change because I always had this idea that the three of us would be together forever. Sometimes I just wish we didn't have to grow up because once we graduate from high school you'll go to your prestigious university to study, Lee will go off to train to be an Olympian and I'll hardly ever get to see you guys ever."

"You make it sound so final."

Tenten smiled at him, "You know you're my best friend right?"

A girl can kill a guy with a few words and it was those seven words that killed Neji Hyuuga.

"Yeah," he replied and stretched out on the grass so he could look at the blue cloudless sky.

* * *

**A/N**: Please feel free to leave me a review, reviews are always nice =)


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